Consensus on CPEC

It transpired from the consensus reached in the All Parties Conference that the government had not made any significant change in the route of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), and there was much ado about nothing. Perhaps, it was because of misunderstanding caused by confidentiality maintained by the government about the mega project. In the All Parties Conference on CPEC held on Thursday, all the major political parties have endorsed the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) after the government offered to first construct the western route of the project, which interlinks Gwadar with Chinese city of Kashgar. During a second All Parties Conference (APC) summoned by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to evolve concensus on CPEC on Thursday, the participants were given comprehensive briefing over the multibillion infrastructure and development project. The political parties agreed that work on western routes of CEPC would be launched this year.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said that a parliamentary committee will be set up to oversee the CPEC projects, which will have representation of all parliamentary parties. He clarified that the route of CPEC has not been changed and reservations over the project were unwarranted. After the first All Parties Conference on CPEC held on 13th May 2015, the Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly Syed Khursheed Shah had said that opposition parties failed to apprehend the government\'s stance on the proposed routes of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project during the all parties\' conference held on May 13. Shah had also demanded of the government to call another all parties\' conference to clear confusions over the CPEC project. Awami National Party and Baloch nationalist parties had claimed that Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were ignored in the 3,000-km-long Gwadar-Kashghar route of the corridor.
Earlier, in a meeting of leaders of all parliamentary parties convened by Co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari, it was decided to seek details of the agreements signed with China including China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). Leaders of the parties had not only expressed concerns but also protested over the confidentiality maintained by the government about the agreements signed during the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping. Federal Finance Minister, who had attended the meeting on behalf of the Government, had assured the leaders that on Prime Minister\'s return all parties will be taken into confidence and their concerns will be addressed. The question is why the details of the agreements signed between Pakistan and China had not been made public. It is indeed heartening to note that there is consensus over the CPEC, and misunderstanding has been removed.
The CPEC project is part of Beijing\'s \"Belt and Road\" plan to expand its trade and transport footprint across Central and South Asia. It will give China easier access to Middle Eastern oil via the deepwater port of Gwadar. According to experts, the completion of Gwadar would make it the economic hub of Balochistan and create a strategic nexus between Pakistan, China and Central Asia, generating billions in revenue and providing shorter land routes. It would provide links from the Caspian Sea to the Strait of Hormuz, and enable Gwadar to compete with Persian Gulf ports. The United States, wary of Chinese strategic access to the Arabian Sea and its presence in the region, had reportedly tried several times to persuade Pakistan against involving China in the mega project. India has also invested heavily in the road linking project from Afghanistan to Iran\'s Chahbahar port to lessen the importance of Gwadar Port.